The Next Chapter

Its been a theme of our season this year as we have been asked to head up to Northland to the stunning Bay Of Islands on 3 occasions. Sarah and Alastair’s wedding was the first of these three and really, Mr T (Travis) and I did not really know what to expect.

What greeted us was quite possibly one of the most amazing wedding weekends we could have ever imagined.

But first a little about Sarah & Alastair. Sarah and Al met in their Uni days and 9 years later they are tying the knot. These two are adventurous and fun, and hanging out with them and their family and friends on the day of their wedding, not to mention the day before and the day after, was simply wonderful. For Sarah and Al their wedding day was all about their friends and family, a simple chance to be with the people that mean the most to them.

With destination weddings its easy to film a little extra of the preparations and the organising of the day before. Its a chance to capture some footage we normally would not have the chance to capture, and a chance to tell more of the story of a couple’s day.

So on the 10th of January we headed to the Duke of Marlborough for the setup and preparations at New Zealand's first Hotel. With a stunning floral “wall” being prepared, and built by Sarah’s Dad Chris, this was the perfect chance to show what sort of effort went into preparing for this wedding.

Getting Married in Russell is no mean feat, with nearly every supplier being brought in from Auckland for the day. Its a logistical exercise not for the faint hearted and for Sarah & Al’s wedding day, enlisting the help of Gayle from Exquisite Weddings meant it all went off without a hitch ‘We brought in all manner of suppliers, staff etc. for the wedding we essentially had three venues to take care of, the Church, the Reception Venue and then the family home for the After Party the following day.”

But central to all of this planning and effort, for Sarah and Al was their family and friends.

What stands out for me is their sincerity, the beautifully written and delivered speeches and the simply stunning day that the Bay of Islands turned on. This was a wedding for the memory banks.

A beautiful day, a stunning location and a simply wonderful couple. All the ingredients for a beautiful destination wedding film.

As part of their package as well, we produced a Next Day Edit for Sarah & Al that was played the next day at lunch to all their guests. The tears flowed as the memories of the day before were played out in front of Sarah & Al , and for us it was simply amazing to see peoples reactions to the film.

And finally, its always wonderful to get people's feedback on their wedding films and these are the comments that came through to us from Sarah and her mother Dayle,

Sarah:“What a fantastic record, plus it is so brilliant to see it from a different view, catch those lip trembling moments and glances that we would otherwise have never seen.
I love all of the films, the highlight video is fantastic also – it just makes me want to do it all over again!!! – and have recommended to any of my friends getting married to have it videoed – it is seriously the most valuable thing and can just keep on reliving those memories. So thank you so much… I can only imagine how much time and effort has gone into creating these for us.”

Gayle:“I have spent the weekend as a complete emotional wreck watching the video of Sarah and Alastair’s wedding.
It is truly fantastic right from the beginning – capturing Russell in the morning before wedding and continuing right through covering absolutely everything until the evening. You did an amazing job of filming Al and Sarah and capturing their feelings and emotions both towards each other and their enjoyment of everything about the wedding.”